#FreeRaifBadawi

I have become a supporter of Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger sentenced to jail and flogging for a liberal blog.

In Saudi Arabia, no liberal interpretation of the Sharia (Qur’anic law )is possible.Intellectuals, who would try to conciliate thinking and religion, as it was before the 12th Century, are at risk of immediate sanctions by the king of the country.

Yet, blogging is not a crime, and so freedom of speech.An organization has been created for the freedom of expression in the UAE: in Oman, Bahrain, and lands of the region, a blog or a tweet concerning the religion of the political power is impossible.

When it touches to religion, it is immediately qualified of “blasphemy”. It is under this accusation that Raif Badawi was sentenced: he only wrote his thoughts about the Qur’an, in a liberal perspective.As demonstrated by Ibn Rushd (Averroes) in his Decisive Treaty, philosophy and religion are reconcilable. But nowadays, princes and kings have a rigorous view of the Qur’an.

The leaders are not alone in this rigorism: women are all veiled, whereas fifty years ago, they joined the feminist movement in the West, to wear what they want, and they threw the veil, as a symbol of the past.

Freedom of speech is part of Islam, which makes of man a creature superior to animals by reason.

However, speaking freely of Islam is not allowed in most Muslim countries.By the same, as the political authorities are a warrant of Islam, free expression about power is forbidden. Bahrain Network for Human Rights publishes updated reports on the violations of human rights. The President of the Association, Nabeel Rajab, is jailed for a tweet concerning the power. His trial is always postponed , so that he is never released.

About Raif Badawi, the association to defend him is in Canada, a free country regarding expression: his wife, Miss Ensar,leads the organization in favor of her husband : calls to donations, expositions , a link about Raif Badawi’s book, 1000 lashes, translated since in French and in German.

I bought the book, in French, so that my relatives can read it.

The tittle of this post is a tweet I share, or like. I use Twitter to support his freedom.This evening, I use my blog.I will never stop to speak out for him until he ‘s free.